Page 107 - JCAU-7-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Heritage and development of Tonglushan mine site

Figure 1. Satellite image of the Tonglushan area in 1970. Source: USGS EarthExplorer (Copyright © USGS EarthExplorer. Reprinted based on the image
downloaded from the website: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/, last accessed December 3, 2018)

area alone expropriated 6,049 mu of land from local rehabilitation of industrial and mining wasteland remain
2
farmers. The cultivated land in Rock Village was reduced significant challenges, and large state-owned mining
from 3,000 mu to 200 mu, the original 1,600 mu of land enterprises in the region continue to struggle for survival.
in Copper Village was reduced to 0 mu, and the 1,200 mu
in Quantang village now has only 600 mu remaining.” 2.2. Changes in residents’ lives
In addition to the state-owned mines, the area saw the The Tonglushan area experienced notable prosperity due to
establishment of 10 township enterprises, with each village mining activities, which significantly altered local lifestyles
operating its village-run enterprises, including ore-cutting and expedited urbanization. The region transitioned from
workshops, beneficiation plants, smelters, and other being classified as an “Industrial and Mining Special Zone”
primary processing factories. As a result, a large amount to the “Tongshan Commune.” By 1984, the area had evolved
(almost 4 sqkm) of agricultural land was destroyed due from five dispersed natural villages into a town named
to mining activities. Furthermore, soil erosion caused by Tonglushan, covering 8 sqkm and housing a population
open-pit and underground mining, combined with soil exceeding 23,000 (Tao, 1997). It encompassed major
and water pollution from mineral sorting and separating domestic enterprises, such as Tonglushan Copper-Iron Mine,
processes, rendered the Tonglushan area unsuitable for
agriculture. Shitouzui Iron Mine, County Steelworks, and others (Lei,
2019). However, due to the depletion of copper reserves, the
After 4 decades of resource-intensive development, the town was dissolved in 2001 and restructured into different
region’s mineral reserves have been drastically depleted, communities under the jurisdiction of the Jinhu subdistrict.
resulting in a severe shortage of exploitable minerals. Many
industrial and mining sites have been abandoned, leaving During the height of mining activity in the 1990s, more
behind approximately 300 million tons of metal tailings than 80 percent of the local population was employed in
(DLCC, 2014). The expansion of underground mining mining-related industries. State-owned mines, smelters,
areas, subsidence zones, and heavy metal pollution forced and ironworks accommodated tens of thousands of
the County government to apply for Daye’s designation employees in five newly built workers’ villages, which
as one of the first resource-depleted cities in China were equipped with independent kindergartens, primary
(Chen, 2009; China’s State Council, 2013). The reuse and schools, secondary schools, and hospitals. The workers’
village was built in stages: two-story single dormitory

2 Mu (亩), a traditional Chinese unit of area used primarily buildings were constructed in the 1960s, 4-story townhouse
for measuring land. One mu is approximately equivalent to apartment buildings followed in the 1970s and 1980s, and
666.67 sqm. 7-story buildings were introduced in 1998 (Wu, 2015).

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2025) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4898